A Modality System-based Study Of Tenor

Tenor of discourse reflects the role relationships between the speakers during communication and is the main realization of interpersonal system. Up to now, many studies have focused on the relationship between register and the three metafunctional systems. Studies on each element of register as the single object are very rare, let alone studies with the component system of metafunction systems as the realization. This study aims to make an attempt to this aspect of linguistics. The object of this thesis is tenor of discourse, which includes social tenor and interactive tenor according to Zhang Delu’s theoretical framework. This study attempts to seek for the realization of speakers’ social tenors and Obama’s interactive tenors in one-on-one interviews and conferences by the four sub-systems of modality systems as the theories of the thesis(modality types, expressions, orientations and values).The study adopts the combination of qualitative and quantitative researches. Corpus of this study is from Interviews with Barack Obama, from which a corpus for the study of this thesis is built, which consists of two sub-corpora. With the help of UAM Corpus Tool, modality expressions and values and modality types and orientations are annotated respectively in the two corpora. Chi-square tests are made by Chi-Square Calculator. Meanwhile, a qualitative research is carried out to identify and classify modality expressions and give explanations to the realization of tenor of discourse.According to the results shown in the study, modality system is the realization of social tenor and interactive tenor, shown in the following aspects: 1) social tenor and interactive tenor are realized separately during communication; 2) social tenor is realized by explicit expressions and modality values; 3) interactive tenor is realized by modality expressions and orientations.This thesis attempts to achieve two major goals. Firstly, it is trying to investigate how social tenor and interactive tenor are realized by modality system. Secondly, it is trying to explore the distinctions of realizations of social tenor and interactive tenor, giving learners of Obama’s language a brand new perspective.